Annie Ewart ’22: From Mock Trial to law school

Annie Ewart ’22 has been participating in Mock Trial since long before her time at Carthage. She joined her high school’s team during her sophomore year and has been an active competitor since then, competing across Illinois and now at Carthage, against teams from across the country.

According to Annie, she was dragged to her first high school meeting by a friend who didn’t want to go alone, and we can all thank that friend for introducing her to something that she has a clear natural talent in. Annie is a representative of knowing what you love and sticking with it, capping off her last Mock Trial competition with Carthage’s team as a captain — for the second time — and beloved by her teammates. Despite pandemic difficulties, Annie has been no less involved in her team’s success, holding external student practices both in-person and on Zoom, checking up on people regularly to make sure that they’re holding up, and keeping her door open to anyone in need.

In addition to being the team’s closing attorney for the prosecution (the prime attorney position in the case), Annie also managed all of the screen sharing needs during the rounds and was charged with keeping track of time to keep everything running smoothly and according to plan. It’s safe to say that, as she leaves us, Mock Trial at Carthage is losing one of its most valuable members from the last four years — but it’s a bittersweet loss, as Annie looks forward to the next step in her legal career life plan: law school.

The 2021-22 Carthage Mock Trial Team.

Law school is notoriously difficult, a grinding set of gears that crush the unprepared, and the stress is famously overwhelming. But if anyone is prepared for such an environment, it’s Annie, who has been looking forward to this part of her life for years. When asked what it was about law that caught her interest, Annie said that it was like a puzzle. “You need to look at all the facts to see if a violation actually occurred, and then you need to be able to prove your side.” Her interests after law school lean primarily towards criminal and public interest law respectively.

Speaking of her time with Carthage’s Mock Trial Program, Annie had only good things to say and encouragement to give toward those who might be considering joining the team for future seasons. She was asked to provide a single memory that stood out to her regarding her time in the program, but she replied that there were too many to choose from to narrow it down to just one.

She pointed to her bus ride freshman year of college on the way back from the Regional’s Competition, after the team had just qualified for the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS). When case changes were released, “It was like a burst of energy went through the entire group. Suddenly, we were all reading the changes and shouting out exciting ideas on how to move forward. It was just really great to be with a group of students that were excited about the same thing I was, and to be able to work together and grow together.”

The second memory she chose was from this year’s competition, where during a round she had just finished cross-examining a witness and walked off-screen to a teammate. “…[the witness] had said some things I was really hoping to quote in my closing speech if I could remember the exact lines. A teammate immediately showed me a list they had written of quotes from the witness that could be helpful. The fact that we were on the same wavelength and worked together seamlessly in that process was exciting.”

In both of her top memories that she shared, Annie proves that Mock Trial is a program all about working together, and bonding with those with who you share the season.

Sponsoring Department, Office, or Organization:

Mock Trial

For more information, contact:

Prof. Michael Phegley